NYC Subway Delays: Hellish Commute As 15 Lines Snarled

NEW YORK, NY — Myriad problems caused delays on 15 New York City subway lines Monday morning, throwing a wrench in commutes for straphangers around the city.

The Q, J, F, M, 4 and 5 trains are currently running with delays because of switch problems in Brooklyn, signal problems in Brooklyn and Manhattan and an injured passenger at Grand Central Station, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority alerts.

The 2, 3, 7, D, N, R, A, C and L lines also saw slowdowns during the morning rush hour due to mechanical breakdowns, signal problems, a sick passenger and a police investigation, the MTA reported.

The problems hit between 6 a.m., when a rail broke at the Clark Street station on the 2 and 3 lines, and just after 10 a.m. when signal problems at the Kings Highway Q station caused delays on that line.

Commuters on the J and M lines were among those hit hardest. A sick passenger at Brooklyn's Marcy Avenue station forced those trains to run express for about 35 minutes. Normal service resumed at 9:47 a.m., only for switch problems at Myrtle Avenue to cause delays just two minutes later.

Most other problems, including trains with mechanical problems on the A, C and L lines, were resolved by 9:30 a.m. but were causing residual delays along the affected lines.

Straphangers reported waiting as long as 40 minutes for trains on various lines to arrive or start moving again. A commuter named Emily tweeted that it took her A train 25 minutes to go just one stop between the Nostrand Avenue and Hoyt-Schermerhorn stations in Brooklyn.

"(M)y normally 25-minute commute on the F line took 90 minutes today," Dan Mathis tweeted to the MTA around 9:40 a.m. "Why is your service so bad, especially at rush hour on a Monday?"

Straphangers also posted photos of overcrowded platforms bulging with riders waiting for trains.

The delays came as an Amtrak train stuck in a Hudson River tunnel hamstrung commutes for New Jersey Transit riders heading into Penn Station on Monday morning.

Commuters also faced subway misery on Friday, the day after a massive snowstorm dropped more than a foot of snow on parts of the city. The cold weather caused switches to freeze on some subway lines last week.

(Lead image by Mark Osborne/Patch)